Lotte Reiniger

After deciding that the shadow of my fairy man was more interesting than a straightforward viewpoint, I started to look at other artists and animators who play with light and shadows. Lotte Reiniger was a pioneer of animation in the 1920s and actually created the first feature length animation using shadow puppets, long before Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She is overlooked in this respect which seems reflective of the many stories of women in art, something we should be striving to change. Lotte's work carry subtle feminist messages in her portrayal of various princesses and female protagonists as strong, confident and able characters. I appreciate these characterisations as well as the delicacy of her papercuts and subtle layering for soft-edged backgrounds.

Technically, Lotte's work is stunning. This gif of a scene from Prince Achmed looks so contemporary and clean that I am astounded the image was made using traditional techniques and not through computer-generation. Through further research I've discovered that her papercut puppets are made using many different pieces to achieve a more fluid, realistic motion. Simply beautiful.